1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a basket and handle combination in which the handle is locked in the vertical position when raised and automatically rotates to a generally horizontal stowed positioned when released.
2. Prior Art
It is common practice to provide customers of self-service retail stores with hand-held baskets for carrying small pieces of merchandise. Generally, these baskets are elongated and provided with one or two metal or plastic free swiveling U-shaped handles which straddle the basket and are pivotally connected near the midpoints of the long sides of the baskets. The handles of such baskets pivot when released to a stowed position which facilitates stacking of the baskets. However, with these free swiveling handles, there is a tendency for the basket to tip and possibly spill the contents if a heavy object is placed in one end of the basket or the load shifts while the basket is being carried by the handle.
Some attempts have been made to provide a handle on these merchandise baskets which can easily be rotated to a stowed position but which can be locked in a vertical position when raised. Accordingly, wire baskets have been made in which loops at the ends of the legs of the wire handles slide upward in slots in the sides of the baskets when the handle is lifted to engage a recess either in the wire forming the top edge of the basket or in a metal plate welded to the top edge wire. A plastic basket has also been produced in which each leg of the handle is inserted between two spaced, upwardly directed planar members on the side of the basket. A necked outward projection on the outside of the leg slides vertically and rotates in a vertical slot in the outer member, while an inward projection on the end of the leg engages a groove in the inside member when the handle is raised. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,789, another type of handle locking mechanism utilizes a handle with inwardly projecting feet and vertical slots in the sidewalls of the basket and open-end notches in the downwardly depending flanges of the rim of the basket. The foot has a necked down portion which is rotatably and slidably received in the slot allowing the handle to be rotated between a horizontal and a vertical position. When the handle is lifted up while in the vertical position, the neck portion slides up the slot and the remaining section of the foot engages the notch to prevent rotation of the handle. Upon release of the handle, the feet drop out of the notch and the handle freely rotates to a stowed position outside of the basket.